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Licensing program will
make roads safer

THE ISSUE The Legislature is near approval of a bill creating a driver's licensing program restricting teen driving at night.

HAWAII'S highways should become safer because of a three-stage licensing program for young drivers that appears headed for enactment by the Legislature. If success of such programs in 40 other states is repeated in Hawaii, traffic injuries and fatalities will be reduced, possibly providing reason for the state insurance commissioner to order a lowering of insurance rates.

A similar bill drew broad support in last year's Legislature, prompting advocates of a controversial traffic-camera proposal to attach an amendment that torpedoed the measure. Legislators should not tamper with the measure in the upcoming joint conference of senators and representatives to decide upon a final version.

Under the bill, teenagers could qualify for provisional driver's licenses at age 16 and obtain full licenses at 17 if they have a clean driving record. The provisional license would include various restrictions, including not driving alone between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m., and some exemptions, such as driving to or from work or school activities.

Studies have shown that teenagers comprise 7 percent of all drivers but 14 percent of highway fatalities. Twenty percent of teens' driving is at night, which is when half of their traffic deaths occur.

Sen. Clayton Hee said insurance companies will be "benign profiteers" of the bill. At his urging, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved an amendment that makes the law expire three years after it takes effect next January. The state is instructed to study whether the program reduces accidents involving young drivers during those three years.

"If there is a reduction in costs and number of accidents, companies are going to reduce their rates to remain competitive," said Carolyn Fujioka, a spokeswoman for State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. Future legislators should not intrude on the insurance commissioner's role of determining whether insurance rollbacks are warranted.

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Entire world has stake
in next pope

THE ISSUE The Roman Catholic College of Cardinals will begin meeting next Monday to choose a new pope.

THE inclusion of presidents and monarchs from more than 70 countries and representatives of all the world's major religions at the funeral of Pope John Paul II illustrated that the pope's global reach extends far beyond the world's 1.1 billion Roman Catholics. While many church members will focus on how to quickly turn an icon into a saint, the other 83 percent of mankind will have more than a casual interest in who John Paul's successor will be.

The crowd at St. Peter's Square chanted "Santo! Santo!" and waved banners reading "Santo Subito" -- immediate sainthood. A Hawaii Kai woman's credit of John Paul's blessing for the cure of her baby's brain-swelling 24 years ago in the Philippines is no doubt one of many miracles that will be claimed in putting John Paul on the fast track toward sainthood.

Other eyes look to a week from today, when more than 100 cardinals will gather in the Sistine Chapel to begin deciding on who will be the next pope. Will he be an Italian, like all but Polish John Paul in the past five centuries, or from elsewhere in Europe, or from Latin America, home to 40 percent of all Catholics?

More important is whether he will have anything approaching John Paul's charisma and activism on social issues. His return to Poland in 1979 inspired the rise of Solidarity, which brought the downfall of Warsaw's government and led to the dismantlement of communism throughout Eastern Europe. His stand against contraception and abortion has contributed to the strength of the so-called religious right in this country.

The College of Cardinals is likely to choose someone who shares those views, since 97 percent of them were chosen by John Paul. However, they may well decide upon a pope with executive skills, capable of heading an organization with 4,700 bishops and 400,000 priests, instead of John Paul's rock-star prowess.

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